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Comments
for what it's worth, i had the same issues in my 2007 suburban, had the AFM disbaled and no longer conuming oil. No difference in mileage either.
A case in which the only winners are lawyers (NBC)
I hear you about the class action; however the David and Goliath approach won't get the message across either.
Toyota paid out a lot in their recent sudden unintended acceleration lawsuit. Lots of bad PR and people dying. Only took three years for that "clear cut" one to settle.
Better to be your own David, I think.
Have you had an oil consumption test done by your dealership yet? If you would like for us to connect you with a dealer in your area to have this test started, please let us know.
Amber N.
GM Customer Care
How long have you worked for GM?
Most people don't want to make the effort though; they post on forums and hope someone will take the lead and get a class action going.
It's really quite easy to dial up a lemon lawyer or just a regular lawyer in your town and ask them to evaluate your problem. Usually they'll have a paralegal take your info and let you know where you stand, and often it's free. Even if there's not enough money involved for the lawyer to pursue it, they may tell you what your chances are if you just go to small claims. Some AG offices have researchers who focus on car problems as well, and sometimes they'll go to bat for you.
I just don't get too excited about posts wanting people to file class actions - I see them all the time and very, very few of them get anywhere, and those that do take years. And then the owners still get squat.
Glad to hear! Well, if you'd like for us to reach out to your dealership as well to get a few more details or start a case for you within our system please let us know. Otherwise, please let us all know how the appointment goes next week.
Amber N.
GM Customer Care
As part of the settlement, Honda will extend the powertrain warranty on these models for eight years (from time of purchase or lease) with no mileage limitation, and it will also reimburse customers who had to pay out-of-pocket expenses for related repairs such as spark plugs, pistons or, in some cases, apparently, an entirely new engine. (Of course, the repairs had to be related to certain trouble codes.) Lawyers will get no more than $800,000 from Honda and the guy who originally started the case, Vince Eagen, will get $1,000 for his "time and effort."
http://www.autoblog.com/2013/10/23/honda-settles-class-action-lawsuit-engines/
I've battled 2 different dealerships with this issue for 4 years with my 07 Suburban and got every excuse in the book but no solutions.
Read my Nov 4, 2013 post on oil consumption on the 5.3 it may help your readers. # 10 socket and a little elbow grease keeps the ole lawyers out of the shop. Read on my friend----)
Hm, you posted this on November 2, 2013.
So we get to wait two days? Is this a lawyer's trick or what? DST falling back must really be messing with my clock.
(yeah, I get that you mean post #76. Not everyone has the tools or aptitude to wrench though).
I was also informed by my Chevy dealer that I have the oil consumption issue. I would like to know if GM is doing anything to assist customers financially with this issue. My dealer told me the only way to permanently fix this is to either rebuild the engine ($5700) or replace the engine ($6500). As this is a known issue, I feel GM should cover most of the cost of this issue. Please reply with what steps I should take to get a proper response from GM.
I see that Sarah or ? representing GM Customer Service replies quite often on here, requesting information. I'm wondering, has anyone had any success with that? There are a lot of unfortunate stories posted here that GM should take full responsibility for. Putting people through what they are and leaving folks high and dry is completely unacceptable. Anticipating the arrival of our 3rd girl in February of 2008, we purchased a brand new Suburban 5.3L, loaded Z71. We take our safety and investments very seriously. I was delighted and intimidated to have such an expensive, yet brand new car. I'd say a little over a year into it, I started talking to the service department about noise. They had it in a couple of times and said they failed to recreate the noise. Finally once I video taped it and emailed it to them, they replaced 8 lifters & gaskets. About 5 months ago, I suddenly experienced a rough idle. I took it immediately to my GM service folks, and they replaced the #1 spark plug and wire telling me at the time it had fowled out for some "unknown" reason. Clearly they knew what was going on at the time, but they were content to patch it up, charge me (out of standard warranty period by 4 months) and send me on my way, a ticking time bomb, just waiting to break down in possibly a remote place
with my kids in the car. Then about 2 oil changes ago or less @ around 105,000 miles, I noticed a knocking, but no oil light. So I checked the oil. NONE on the dipstick. We added 4 quarts and watched it closely. I initially thought that perhaps something was goofy with the plug when they did the last oil change. Then I had the oil changed. When I mentioned the incident to the technician at the GM Dealership, they said NOTHING about this issue. So we're still clueless as to what is going on. Then one dark night, December 21st, 2013 to be exact. I glanced over to the oil pressure gauge on the dash while my husband was driving on a lonely back road and mentioned that it looked maybe a little low and to check it when we arrived. Sure enough, at our family Christmas celebration, we find out that my car is again over 3 quarts low on oil. Still no oil light on the dash came on. Obviously we fill it up and begin investigating. Then it happened, the stabilitrak lights went on, the engine light went on, and the engine begins to run rough......while I am in the mountains with 2 little kids. I bring it to a certified mechanic, where it currently sits. Compression test confirms cylinder #4 is dead, down to 125 psi in the #2. Thousands of blogs on multiple sites confirm everything else. GM has a FAILED product, and I have NO car & 3 kids, plus a car payment and insurance I'm responsible for. This product was doomed for failure the moment it left the car lot. It was just a matter of time. We have poured thousands of dollars into maintaining this rig for the long haul, you couldn't find a better car owner, plus we've replaced 2 left hubs and a fuel pump. After not being able to get a hold of the dealership by phone (common problem, calls are routed to a 3rd party answering service), my husband went, with file in hand. The Service Manager was not phased in the least by my husbands findings and told him that the "best case" scenario would be that GM would split the band aid fix 50/50, which would cost us 2k. WHAT? GM's "fix" is simply kicking the can down the road 25k miles, hoping to get out the liability and in the meantime, putting families like me on the streets. What am I supposed to do now GM with a car that's worthless to me and a life in which I'm responsible for transporting 3 people around? When Monday morning rolls around, I have to get my kids to school. How's that going to happen GM? Will I need to
seek an attorney, use the lemon law, post on every single blog and GM/Chevrolet facebook page known to man kind to get your attention?
Read my post from July 2013. GM issued a bulletin about the oil consumption. ALL of these should have been recalled to fix the issue that they knew about.
Having similar oil consumption issue with our 2012 Suburban. Our '01 and '06 Suburbans didn't have this issue.
2012 Suburban - last year, our local GM dealer did oil consumption test and did a "carbon cleaning" to fix issue of burning 1-2 quarts of oil. Said we should be good to go. Most recent check (3 wks ago), we burned 3.5 quarts since last oil change. Dealer wants to again do an "oil check".
Our 2012 Suburban is our "good" car we use for family (4 kids) vacations on long road trips. It's the car we "trust" in the family to be designed/engineered well.
When you spend $60k on a new Suburban, you trust it to work.
This our 3rd Suburban we've bought new (also '01 and '06). Still have '01 Suburban with >100k miles and it doesn't burn oil. Love '01 but left wondering if best of GM is in the past?
Seems GM not wanting to deal or pay for fix. Suggesting it's "okay" to be burning this much oil. Really?
We first brought this to GM dealer within 3yr/36k warranty. Now within 5yr/100k engine and powertrain warranty. Still getting run around. GM wasting our time and money.
Looking for a good solution to above. Or means to get local GM dealer to solve problem once and for all. Want to buy GM/American but this just non-sense.
We'll again buy a family SUV in ~2 yrs. Given all above, not sure next one will be a Suburban or other brand.
What happened to that solid trust worthy GM Suburban Brand?
z71suburban08
Your story is so spot on with mine that it's scary! I want to keep my 2008 Z71 Suburban because its the ultimate family trip vehicle but the neverending saga of oil comsumption issues and all of the issues that are appearing now that are related are going to put me in the poor house! My issues started at 50k miles now i have 127K and have given up. Towed it to the original dealership today along with my pile of documentation from Chevy Dealer after Chevy Dealer trying to "fix" this unfixable problem. I have a new work car now and lake season doesnt start for a month. Got my case number from Chevy Assistance today from a lady by the name of ...ready for this one......I'm craping you not....."Sarah". LOL I'll let you know how this turns out.
I have a 2007 that has been nothing but a bug piece of crap. We have had oil consumption tests, repairs, and still the #1 and 7 plugs get fouled so bad the car throws codes. Local Chevrolet dealer is not trustworthy. They did a repair in December to replace those two plugs but wouldn't tell us why it's happening. This weekend the truck threw the same codes again so I pulled the two plugs and one is completed crusted with burnt oil, the other covered in fresh oil. I've called Chevy customer service and their reps are horrible! They must be trained in making people angry. I have a 1999 that's perfect, I was considering getting a newer model but these reports don't make me confident in the product. I'm about to perform a full social media blitz on this to prevent others from this gross negligence by Chevy.
So Chevrolet is sending me to a different dealer but they still haven't acknowledged there is a problem and won't agree to pay for anything yet. The new dealer was supposed to call me yesterday but I've heard nothing yet. The #1 plug is so fouled it looks packed with tar and Chevy changed it in December of last year. The #7 was coated in wet oil. The other plugs look fine. Could it be valve seals? Rings? Something worse? Who knows but the problem started BEFORE my warranty ran out so I expect this to be covered.
I thought I would add my experince with my 2007 Suburban. I purchased mine certified with 45k miles on it. I started have oil consumptions issues right away and was told by the dealer they weren't aware of issues. We started a consumtion test thatlasted forever but indicated about 1qt every 500 milez of hiway driving. They finally offered to pull valve covers and install a deflector. That didn't work and oil consumtion remained the same. Then after undergoing more consumption tests we finally started talking "lemon law" and they replaced the engine at about 60k. Around 100k we were having the same issues again we started doing consumption tests and indeed was losing quite a bit of oil that would fall under the replacement plan. We set up a date for the repair and when I dropped it off was told that on the second enine the warranty is not extended and you only get the balance. The mileage was 103k. The regional chev manager (so I was told) offered me a trad4e in plus $2500. However the trade plus the cash had to be used on a NEW vehicle! Good luck making that work when these things are $45k new for same vehicle.
So I am pretty much screwed and disappointed with Chev. I am still losing about 1qt every 500 miles and keep 3 qts in the truck.
Thanks Chevrolet.
To all who are experiencing oil consumption on 07-14 vehicles, does your vehicle have the active fuel management or cylinder deactivation feature? If so I would highly recommend you consider this to possibly be the issue. I own a 2008 GMC Yukon with this engine destroying feature, it greatly saddens me that GM puts this feature on their new engines which would other wise be just as reliable as Gm trucks of the past. But today it's not about reliability, it's about getting owners to pay in the service department and making money. This is only costing them loyal buyers in the long run. Either way DISABLE OR TURN THIS FUEL SAVING FEATURE OFF, it definitely was the cause of oil consumption on my vehicle, which I'm sure now has some permanent damage because of running on zero oil multiple times. Now the vehicle is v8 all of the time and the engine feels much more healthier instead of constantly having to shut off and reactivate cylinders every 15 seconds. I bought a device that plugs into the OBD port underneath the steering wheel called the Range V8 and can be unplugged when you need to service your vehicle so no warranties are voided. I hope I've helped someone in typing this, and good luck to all fellow owners.
Well I apparently am in the same boat as every other suburban owner. I just bought an 07 with 130k on it. The truck is in great shape and I really like it. I have had it about a week now with no trouble. My father in law has had an 08 for a few months and noticed on start up and downhill with his foot off the gas that his would smoke. I just thought it was a fluke and was isolated to his truck. Mine had been fine until lastnight. Leaving his house started it up and was surrounded by a giant cloud of smoke. It was dark so not sure what color it was. I only knew of him and me that have a suburban and thought that 2 out 2 do the same thing. Those aren't good odds. Well after doing some looking this morning I guess it doesn't matter about mileage year style... Nothing makes a difference. They all have the same junk motor design. I know I have no warranty anymore but is Chevy fixing this problem for people like they should be?! Since they should have fixed the problem before they even released the first one from the plant. I could probably replace the valve guide seals on my own but it is a lot of work and time that frankly I don't want to spend when this is their problem and responsibility that should have been taken care of 7 years ago. I paid 13 k for the truck and really thought for that money it would have been a reliable truck with minor problems not major issues. Maybe I should kept my hemi Ram.
Several years ago, it started going through the oil like mad, and a failure to report low oil on filter changes (or high consumption) at the dealership maintenance bay left me in the position of having exactly 100,600 miles on it before they (dealership) informed me of the excessive oil consumption for the engines in these vehicles. GM would then not stand behind Red Sparkle, as it was 600 miles past warranty. 600... about one tank of gas too many...how convenient...
Fast forward 2 more years, I, a Single mom to 3 children- AND the beloved Red Sparkle... Red Sparkle is the workhorse of the family- my ex and I agreeing I should keep it years before, as it was (or supposed to be) the more reliable of our two vehicles... as Custodian, Red Sparkle would be primarily responsible for hauling my children, back-packs, groceries, a cello, and my photography business/studio gear... sometimes all at once! RS is definitely needed and used in this family.
Now that RS has 134K miles, I am putting 1 quart per tank of gas...or 8-10 quarts between "oil changes" Thought: is it really a "change" when all of the oil from the previous change is gone?? like the old saying "fill up the oil and check the gas"
Buying oil by the case, and always having a spare in the Suburban have become commonplace, as are new spark plugs... since GM changed acceptable consumption standards, refused to stand by Red Sparkle as the nearly 40,000 SUV they sold me, and I am at a loss now...
Yesterday, my oil pressure dropped to zero suddenly, the check engine light came on, and I called the tow truck as my 3 kids, dog, and I waited on the side of the bitterly cold Washington Highway.
Today, the service manager at the dealership told me I need a new engine. The total cost of this would be $8,040.00
The "band-aid" fix would be over $3,000.00 and he could not guarantee Red Sparkle would not quit on me next week...
by the end of the day, the dealership had a sales representative calling me, offering me between 9,000-10,000 for the Suburban, of course, was also wanting to show me some fantastic SUV models to replace RS... Seems fishy-
The part which went bad was my oil sender... it is a $116 part.
My engine IS on it's way out-
My pistons ARE letting oil blow past them...to the tune of 8-10 quarts every 6,000 miles...
He told me my engine was too high in mileage (134K) to warrant fixing the pistons, and a new engine was the way to go...
SO- this Single mama, who owned what was supposed to be a reliable family workhorse now, and for years to come- now owns a very expensive Boat Anchor-
Shame on you GM for selling a faulty product and ripping off vulnerable consumers in the process- You could have just altered the trajectory of my families future with your poor customer service, bad engine, and forcing me to become financially destitute at the most critical hour of putting my life back together and raising my children by myself.
sincerely-
heartbroken, disconcerted, dissatisfied American consumer
If there is a lawsuit, I would like to be informed and included. This car is at half its life. GM needs to stand behind their product.
On second thought. Get yourself a J2534 approved tool. Register for and then pay for a subscription to GM's TIS to web. Then you can call and see if GM will assign a VCI for your vehicle that disables the displacement on demand system which will cost another $50 and then if applicable perform the update. All told that will cost you around $2500 and anything that goes wrong would be nobody's fault but yours. It would be easier for you if there were techs to do this, but the job doesn't pay enough to make dealing with the above kind of abuse justifiable.